The upflow anaerobic digester and mantle has a wide application for the treatment of wastewater from different features, such as domestic or served sewage, wastewater from distilleries, wastewater from the sugar industry, canning industry, benefit of coffee, dairy products, soft drinks, production of pharmaceuticals, landfill leachate, starch production, yeast production, brewery, and paper production. In these cases, the removal efficiencies of organic matter have been achieved relatively high, with values between 70-85%. However, the process has failed when it has been applied to wastewater containing a high concentration of proteins or ammonium, such as those generated in the fish processing industries, animal husbandry facilities, processors of meat products, slaughter of animals, production of nitrogen fertilizers, among others, as these hinder the formation of granules in the filamentous structures developed (Sanchez et al, 1995; Hulshoff et al, 2004, Tada et al, 2005, Montalvo et al, 2012). This results in poor sludge settling properties and a low removal efficiency. On the other hand, a high concentration of organic nitrogen and ammonium causes inhibition of anaerobic digestion, which directly affects low removal efficiency of organic matter and low methane production.
There are several reports indicating that when the concentration of ammonia nitrogen exceeds 1000 mg/l, the formation of granular sludge is seriously affected. Inhibition process also occurs when the wastewater has a high protein concentration and chemical oxygen demand (COD) ratio: Nitrogen (N) is below 30 to 1 (Sanchez et al, 1995; Hulshoff et al., 2004, Tada et al, 2005; Montalvo et al, 2012).
Zeolite clinoptilolite has been employed in controlling the formation of ammonia nitrogen in wastewater with a high concentration of organic nitrogen (Bernal M. P., López-Real J. M. 1993. Natural zeolites and sepiolites as ammonium and ammonia adsorbent materials. Bioresource Technology. 43, 27-33; Bernal M. P., López-Real J. M., Scott K. M. 1993. Application of natural zeolites for the reduction of ammonia emissions during the composting of organic wastes in a laboratory composting simulator Bioresource Technology. 43, 35-39; Borja R., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Travieso L. 1993. Effect of ionic exchanger addition on the anaerobic digestion of cow manure. Environmental Technology. 14, 891-896; Borja R., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Travieso L., Martín A. 1993. Effect of natural zeolite support on the kinetics of cow manure anaerobic digestión. Biomass and Bioenergy. 5, 395-400; Borja R., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Travieso L., Martín A. 1994. Kinetics of anaerobic digestion of cow manure with biomass immobilized on zeolite. Biochemical Engineering Journal. 54, B9-B14; Sánchez E., Milán Z., Borja R., Weiland P., Rodriguez X. 1995. Piggery waste treatment by anaerobic digestion and nutrient removal by ionic Exchange. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 15, 235-244; Borja R., Sánchez E., Durán M. M. 1996. Effect of the clay mineral zeolite on ammonia inhibition of anaerobic thermophilic reactors treating cattle manure. 1996. Journal of Environmental Science and Health. A 31(2), 479-500; Milán Z., Sánchez E., Weiland P., de Las Pozas C., Borja R., Mayarí R., Rovirosa N. 1997. Ammonia removal from anaerobically treated piggery manure by ion exchange in columns packed with homoionic zeolite. The chemical Engineering Journal. 66, 65-71; Milán Z., Sánchez E., Borja R., Ilangovan K., Pellon A., Rovirosa N., Weiland P., Escobedo R. 1999. Deep bed filtration of anaerobic cattle manure effluents with natural zeolite. Journal of Environmental Science and Health. B34(2), 305-332; Fernández N., Fernández-Polanco F, Montalvo S J, Toledano D. 2001. Use of activated carbon and natural zeolite as support materials, in an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor, for vinasse treatment. Water Science and Technology 44, 1-6; Milan Z., Sánchez E., Borja R., Weiland P., Cruz M. 2001. Synergistic effect of natural and modified zeolites on the methanogenesis of acetate and methanol. Biotechnology Letters, 23, 559-562; Milán Z., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Borja R., Martín A., Ilangoban K. 2001. Influence of different natural zeolite concentrations on the anaerobic digestion of piggery waste. Bioresource Technology. 80, 37-43; Milán Z, Villa P, Sánchez E, Montalvo S, Borja R, Ilangovan K. 2003. Effect of natural and modified zeolite on anaerobic digestion of piggery waste. Water Science and Technology. 48, 263-9; Du Q., Liu S. J., Cao Z. H., Wang Y. Q. 2005. Ammonia removal from aqueous solution using natural Chinese clinoptilolite. Separation and Purification Technology. 44, 229-234; Montalvo S, Díaz F, Guerrero L, Sánchez E, Borja R. 2005. Effect of particle size and doses of zeolite addition on anaerobic digestion processes of synthetic and piggery wastes. Process Biochemistry. 40, 1475-81; Sarioglu, M. 2005. Removal of ammonium from municipal wastewater using natural Turkish (Dogantepe) zeolite. Separation and Purification Technology. 41, 1-11; Tada C., Yang Y., Hanaoka T., Sonoda A., Ooi K., Sawayama S. 2005. Effect of natural zeolite on methane production from anaerobic digestion of ammonium rich organic sludge. Bioresurce Technology. 96, 459-464; Montalvo S., Guerrero L., Borja R., Travieso l., Sánchez E., Díaz F. 2006. Use of natural zeolite at different doses and dosage procedures in batch and continuous anaerobic digestion of synthetic and swine wastes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 47, 26-41; Guo X., Zeng L., Li X., Par H. S. 2008. Ammonium and potassium removal for anaerobically digested wastewater using natural clinoptilolita followed by membrane pretreatment. Journal of Hazard Materials. 151, 125-133; Hedstrom A., Amofah L. R. 2008. Adsorption and desorption of ammonium by clinoptilolite adsorbent in municipal wastewater treatment systems. Journal of Environmental Engineering. Science. 7, 53-61; Umaña, O., Nikolaeva, S., Sánchez, E., Borja, R., Raposo, F. 2008. Treatment of screened dairy manure by upflow anaerobic fixed bed reactors packed with waste tyre rubber and a combination of waste tyre rubber and zeolite: effect of the hydraulic retention time. Bioresource Technology 99, 7412-7417; Wang Y., Lin F., Pang W., 2008. Ion exchange of ammonium in natural and synthesized zeolites. Journal of Hazardous Materials 160, 371-375; Chang W. S., Tran H. T., Park D. H., Zhang R. H., Ahn D. H. 2009. Ammonium nitrogen removal characteristics of zeolite media in a biological aerated filter (BAF) for the treatment of textile wastewater. Journal of Industrial Engineering. Chemistry. 15, 524-528; Nikolaeva, S., Sánchez, E., Borja, R., Raposo, F., Colmenarejo, M. F., Montalvo, S., Jiménez-Rodríguez, A. M. 2009. Kinetics of anaerobic degradation of screened dairy manure by upflow fixed bed digesters: effect of natural zeolite addition. Journal of Environmental. Science and Health. Part A 44, 146-150; Wei Y. X., Li Y. F., Ye Z. F. 2010. Enhancement of removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen in sequencing batch reactor using natural zeolite. Environmental Earth Science. 60, 1407-1413; Montalvo S., Guerrero L., Borja R., Sánchez E., Milán Z., Cortés I., Angeles de la Rubia M. 2012. Application of natural zeolites in anaerobic digestion process: A Review. 2012. Apply Clay Science. 58, 125-133). The addition of zeolite-clinoptilolite, in the anaerobic digestion of residual bovine prevented the inhibitory effect of the presence of ammonia and facilitated immobilization of the microorganisms (Borja R., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Travieso L. 1993. Effect of ionic exchanger addition on the anaerobic digestion of cow manure. Environmental Technology. 14, 891-896). The kinetics of anaerobic digestion was studied residual veal is completely mixed batch digesters with zeolite-clinoptilolite support and control without zeolite support, showing that the constant rate was almost twice that used in the zeolite-clinoptilolite digester support than the reaction constant control (Borja R., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Travieso L. 1993. Effect of ionic exchanger addition on the anaerobic digestion of cow manure Environmental Technology 14, 891-896). The same study was performed in continuous operating digesters and the same behavior was observed. Furthermore ammonia nitrogen concentration was significantly lower when zeolite-clinoptilolite was added (Borja R., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Travieso L., Martín A. 1994. Kinetics of anaerobic digestion of cow manure with biomass immobilized on zeolite. Biochemical Engineering Journal. 54, B9-B14). A similar study was conducted with swine wastewater and the results were very similar to those obtained with bovine residual (Sánchez E., Milán Z., Borja R., Weiland P., Rodriguez X. 1995. Piggery waste treatment by anaerobic digestion and nutrient removal by ionic Exchange. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 15, 235-244). Removal capacity of the zeolite ammonia nitrogen in porcine and cattle wastewater after treatment by anaerobic digestion was studied, showing the removal of ammonia nitrogen of about 90% (Milán Z., Sánchez E., Weiland P., de Las Pozas C., Borja R., Mayarí R., Rovirosa N. 1997. Ammonia removal from anaerobically treated piggery manure by ion exchange in columns packed with homoionic zeolite. The chemical Engineering Journal. 66, 65-71; Milán Z., Sánchez E., Borja R., Ilangoban K., Pellon A., Rovirosa N., Weiland P., Escobedo R. 1999. Deep bed filtration of anaerobic cattle manure effluents with natural zeolite. Journal of Environmental Science and Health. B34(2), 305-332; Milan Z., Sánchez E., Borja R., Weiland P., Cruz M. 2001. Synergistic effect of natural and modified zeolites on the methanogenesis of acetate and methanol. Biotechnology Letters, 23, 559-562; Milán Z., Sánchez E., Weiland P., Borja R., Martín A., Ilangoban K. 2001. Influence of different natural zeolite concentrations on the anaerobic digestion of piggery waste. Bioresource Technology. 80, 37-43; Milán Z, Villa P, Sánchez E, Montalvo S, Borja R, Ilangovan K. 2003. Effect of natural and modified zeolite on anaerobic digestion of piggery waste. Water Science and Technology 48, 263-9). It has been shown that the addition of natural zeolite reduces the concentration of nitrogen and contributes to the production of methane by anaerobic digestion of various waste even with high concentrations of nitrogen (Milan Z., Sánchez E., Borja R., Weiland P., Cruz M. 2001. Synergistic effect of natural and modified zeolites on the methanogenesis of acetate and methanol. Biotechnology Letters, 23, 559-562; Milán Z, Villa P, Sánchez E, Montalvo S, Borja R, Ilangovan K. 2003. Effect of natural and modified zeolite on anaerobic digestion of piggery waste. Water Science and Technology. 48, 263-9; Tada C., Yang Y., Hanaoka T., Sonoda A., Ooi K., Sawayama S. 2005. Effect of natural zeolite on methane production from anaerobic digestion of ammonium rich organic sludge. Bioresurce Technology. 96, 459-464; Kotsopoulos, T. A., Karamanlis, X., Dotas, D., Martzopoulos, G. G. 2008. The impact of different natural zeolite concentrations on the methane production in thermophilic anaerobic digestion of pig waste. Biosystems Engineering 99, 105-111; Weiβ S., Tauber M., Somitsch W., Meincke R., Müller H., Berg G., Guebitz G. M., 2010. Enhancement of biogas production by addition of hemicellulolytic bacteria immobilized on active zeolite. Water Research 44, 1970-1980; Weiβ, S., Zankel, A., Lebuhn, M., Petrak, S., Somitsch, W., Guebitz, G. M. 2011. Investigation of microorganisms colonizing activated zeolites during anaerobic biogás production from grass silage. Bioresource Technology 102, 4353-4359; Montalvo S., Guerrero L., Borja R., Sánchez E., Milán Z., Cortés I., Angeles de la Rubia M. 2012. Application of natural zeolites in anaerobic digestion process: A Review. 2012. Apply Clay Science. 58, 125-133).
Mery C., Guerrero L., Alonso-Gutierrez J., Figueroa M., Lema J. M., Montalvo S., Borja R. 2012. Evaluation of zeolite as microorganism support medium in nitrifying batch reactors: Influence of zeolite particle size. Journal of Environmental Science and Health. A 47, 420-427. Research. 62, 71-76, compared the ion exchange capacity of the zeolite and different particle sizes and showed that the best size range is 0.5 to 1 mm, in these cases reaching removal of ammoniacal nitrogen greater than 64% for particle sizes greater. Montalvo S., Guerrero L., Borja R., Sánchez E., Milán Z., Cortés I., Angeles de la Rubia M. 2012. Application of natural zeolites in anaerobic digestion process: A Review. 2012. Apply Clay Science. 58, 125-133, they conducted a literature review regarding employment of the zeolite in preventing inhibition by ammonium during anaerobic digestion of various types of wastewater demonstrating it in this article, the effective properties of the zeolite in controlling the inhibition and their ability to immobilize anaerobic microorganisms.
The effect of the addition of zeolite for the immobilization of microorganisms has been studied with satisfactory results in both aerobic and anaerobic processes (Borja y col., 2003; Fernández N., Fernández-Polanco F, Montalvo S J, Toledano D. 2001. Use of activated carbon and natural zeolite as support materials, in an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor, for vinasse treatment. Water Science and Technology 44, 1-6; He S. B., Xue, G., Kong H. N. 2006. Zeolite powder addition to improve the performance of submerged gravitation-filtration membrane bioreactor. Journal of Environmental. Science. 18, 242-247; He S. B., Xue G., Kong H. N., Li X. 2007. Improving the performance of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) by the addition of zeolite powder. Journal of Hazard Materials. 142, 493-499; Umaña, O., Nikolaeva, S., Sánchez, E., Borja, R., Raposo, F. 2008. Treatment of screened dairy manure by upflow anaerobic fixed bed reactors packed with waste tyre rubber and a combination of waste tyre rubber and zeolite: effect of the hydraulic retention time. Bioresource Technology 99, 7412-7417; Nikolaeva, S., Sánchez, E., Borja, R., Raposo, F., Colmenarejo, M. F., Montalvo, S., Jiménez-Rodríguez, A. M. 2009. Kinetics of anaerobic degradation of screened dairy manure by upflow fixed bed digesters: effect of natural zeolite addition. Journal of Environmental. Science and Health. Part A 44, 146-150; Jiang Y. F., Liu D. H., Sun T. X., Chen J. M. 2010. Process characteristics of zeolite media biological aerated filter for treating aqua culture wastewater. Huanjing Kexue/Environmental Science. 31, 703-708; Weiβ S., Tauber M., Somitsch W., Meincke R., Müller H., Berg G., Guebitz G. M., 2010. Enhancement of biogas production by addition of hemicellulolytic bacteria immobilized on active zeolite. Water Research 44, 1970-1980; Weiβ, S., Zankel, A., Lebuhn, M., Petrak, S., Somitsch, W., Guebitz, G. M. 2011. Investigation of microorganisms colonizing activated zeolites during anaerobic biogás production from grass silage. Bioresource Technology 102, 4353-4359; Mery y col., 2011; Montalvo S., Guerrero L., Borja R., Sánchez E., Milán Z., Cortés I., Angeles de la Rubia M. 2012. Application of natural zeolites in anaerobic digestion process: A Review. 2012. Apply Clay Science. 58, 125-133).
The aforementioned literature review reveals that there are no related articles of the use of clinoptilolite type zeolite in upflow anaerobic digester and mantle of commonly known places such as UASB articles, nor any patent related to a method such as the present invention.